Not My Interview With Robert Munsch

Hi Kerry:

Thank you for writing. I am sorry but Mr. Munsch is not available for
interviews. He had a stroke a couple of years ago and more recently a heart
attack. He is no longer visiting schools, touring or doing interviews. He
is concentrating on his over 200 unpublished stories.

I have copied below an interview he did. I hope it answers some of your
questions.

***

Lunch with Munsch

Canada’s most beloved children’s writer goes nuts with story-telling but
takes kids seriously

by Barb Williamson

Journal Staff Writer

Edmonton

When Robert Munsch tells a story, kids listen.

Perhaps it’s the animation in his face or his booming voice or the way he
waves his arms wildly to illustrate a point.

Munsch has kids captivated.  At 54 he has sold over 30 million children’s
stories.  About 20,000 letters from fans reach him in Guelph, Ontario every
year.

Munsch made a stop in Edmonton last week on tour to promote his latest
book, Up, Up, Down, a story about a girl named Anna who loves to climb.

Set all expectations aside when sitting down for lunch with Munsch.  His
best-seller status has not turned him into a snob. What you see is who he
is, not who he pretends to be.  Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, Munsch is
surprisingly the exact opposite of his boisterous stage persona.

He smiles a lot.

Sitting down to lunch, he begs the waitress for black coffee and orders a
tropical fruit plate with two croissants.  It comes with banana bread.  No
complaints from Munsch.

Throughout the interview he is honest and direct, and most refreshing,
seemingly untouched by his success.

*What were you like as a kid?*

There were nine kids.  I was in the middle. There was no individuality.  And
I was a kind of very smiley nutcase.  The older kids had all the sane
family roles.  I guess I tried to be a clown.

*What intrigues you most about children?*

Kids are so new.  They’re so open-ended.  I can look at a kid and wonder
what they’ll be. The job of children is to be professionally appealing to
adults.  That’s how they get what they need.

*Tell me how Up, Up, Down came about.*

This is an old story that started in 1978 as just a finger play with
two-year-olds.  I gradually turned it into a book for older kids.

*What’s the best way to read to a child?*

People do it a lot of different ways and they’re all right.  But I have a
few general rules.  If the book isn’t working, say “The end” and get
another one.  Feel free to change the text.  That’s what I do when I tell
stories. Reading can be an interactive game.  It can be more than just
decoding the text.

*What do kids really want in stories?*

They want to be able to identify.  To kids there’s only one character in a
story and that’s themselves.

*Is there anything you won’t write?*

I won’t write stuff that kids don’t like.  A lot of kids’ books are
actually adult books in disguise.

*How do you define your success?*

I guess sales or recognition or something like that.  One of the nice
things about audiences of little children is they’re not impressed by my
reputation.  They don’t care.  Here’s a man who’s going to tell stories.  If
they like the stories they’ll be nice and if they don’t like the stories
they’ll be brats. Their impression is not filtered through some idea of
reputation, which it might be with adults.  They’re sort of like, what has
he done for me in the last five seconds?

*What’s the best thing about being a writer?*

Being able to construct my own life.  It gives me a lot of freedom.

*When people ask you how to become a writer, how do you answer that
question?*

When people say I want to be a writer, the first thing I say is get a
job.  First
get a job, make sure you’ve got a job to make money.  Adults will say,
“Well, I’ve decided to become a writer” and I’ll say “Well, what have you
written?”   They say, “Well I haven’t written anything yet but I’ve decided
to become a writer.” There’s something wrong with that.

*Do you still climb trees?*

I still climb trees.  I take my dog on walks out in the country.  There’s a
couple of really big white pine trees.  First I have to climb up a spruce
tree, go across at about 10 m up, then I climb a white pine tree so I get
really high and deathly scared because the tree is swaying in the wind.
Yes, I still climb.  I’m the only 54-year-old I know that still climbs
trees.

*What did you do before you wrote children’s stories?*

In high school I was a dweeb who just read.  I went off to study to be a
Catholic priest for seven years.  That didn’t work massively.  I left that
job, moved to Ontario, went into day care because I wanted a year off to
figure out what to do with my life.  I thought, “What could I do with a
degree in philosophy?” But I decided I liked day care.

*How did you become an author?*

I started telling stories in day care because it was just something I was
good at.  I actually started, and this is what I still do, I make up
stories in front of kids and see how they do.  In day care I was making up
one story new every day and then they’d ask for one old one.  So the kids
were a filter.  A lot of my first books were in my head in day care but I
didn’t know they were books.  I thought they were just stories.

*You have a reputation as an amazing storyteller.  Where does that talent
come from?*

I don’t know.  I used to think anybody could do it. Then I tried teaching
it to people and I found out they couldn’t do it.  I’m not sure where it
comes from.  Maybe a little bit that I’m a bit of an obsessive compulsive
manic depressive who goes nuts with stories.

*What’s your favourite colour?*

Black, because nobody else has the favourite colour black.

*What’s your favourite food?*

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot chicken wings or Indonesian coconut and lemongrass
soup.

*Favourite book?*

Of mine?  I Have To Go.  I also love The Cypresses Believe in God, by Jose
Maria Gironella.

*What kind of dreams do you have?*

I have a lot of dreams where I’ve lost something and I’m trying to find it
and I can’t.  It’s just sort of those panic sort of dreams.

*What are you most scared of?*

Getting burned.  Flames.  I love fires and I like to build fires but I’m
deathly afraid of getting burned.

*What do you find most comforting?*

Pancakes with real maple syrup.  That’s my big comfort food. I make my own
pancakes from scratch with real maple syrup and black coffee and the world
is just fine.

*Why do you write children’s stories?*

I don’t know.  Why are carpenters carpenters?  Because it’s something
they’re good at.  I’m good at this.  Why not do something I’m good at
instead of something I’m lousy at?

*Do you have children?*

I have three kids: Julie who was the kid in David’s Father AND Makeup Mess,
Andrew who is the kid in Andrew’s Loose Tooth; and Tyya who is the kid in
Something Good. All three of my kids are in the book Finding Christmas.

*And what kind of a father are you?*

I was lucky because I didn’t have a regular job by the time my kids were
growing up.  My kids just got used to the idea that daddy was always around
to play with or to come and talk.  I really liked having kids.

*Do you consider yourself a big kid?*

No, I just take kids seriously.  If you look at my books they’re mostly
about apparently trivial situations.  They’re everyday events in kids’
lives.

*What was your favourite book as a child?*

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss.  The little kid kept
getting in trouble no matter what he did. That seemed to be my role in my
family.

***

On this Fiction Friday I decided, if I couldn’t get an interview with the man himself, I’d at least share one done by someone who had.

🙂

I have sent email requests for interviews to three writers since I started this blog: Alice Munro, Jean Little, and Robert Munsch.

Thanks to:

Sharon Bruder, Assistant

I at least received a response back this time.

http://robertmunsch.com)

Looking forward to hearing more about some of the 200 previously unfinished stories, mentioned above.

TToT: Paper Has More Patience Than People

The title for this week’s post is a direct quote from Anne Frank (1929-1945).

So I am having a bit of a blah day, tempted not to do this, but I know I can come up with ten things and so I’m giving it a try.

TEN THINGS OF THANKFUL

Sunday: A History For Today opening Reception and Speaker Series.

For these insightful events happening all summer long at a museum nearby. I felt a bit strange sipping champaign during the reception, but I was there to learn about a very important topic, from someone who knows what she’s talking about. I am writing a series of articles about it for my website.

Julie Couture is French-Canadian, but moved to Europe and has worked at The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, for the last five or more years.

She designed the website and is in charge of the Canadian portion of a traveling exhibit on Anne Frank, her diary, and WW II in schools and museums like the one I was at.

Her talk was very informative and I am looking forward to the other speakers in the series, with five more spread throughout the rest of the summer. This exhibit is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I thought I’d better make the most of it, just in case I never make it to The Netherlands.

For where and when I was born.

Listening to Julie speak I realized how it’s simply the luck of the draw when a person is born. Or not luck at all, as the case was and is for so many.

It’s beyond our control.

Monday: Dr. Ruth.

This might sound like a strange one, but I heard an interview with her. She’s an amazing lady. She’s tiny but strong.

You’ve likely heard the name, but just in case you know very little to nothing about her…

She was born in Germany,

(a common theme runs throughout more than one of the ten this week, as you can probably tell)

into a Jewish family, and lived a normal life, until she was sent away on a Kindertransport to Switzerland, never to see her parents alive again.

After World War II she went to Palestine, then moved to France, and finally to the Us and settled in New York City.

She has studied psychology, sociology and human sexuality. In the 80s she was given her own radio show, answering people’s questions on sex and relationships, something nearly unheard-of at the time.

She has been married three times, speaks four languages (German, French, English, and Hebrew) and has written many books.

It’s strange to hear someone that sounds like my grandmother, yet definitely is not. She has always spoken her mind, not letting the fact that she was Jewish or a woman stop her. She is the sort of tough girl that Hitler and the Nazis did not get a chance to silence. That’s pretty amazing to me and I am thankful she survived, when Anne Frank and so many others did not.

Tuesday: for hot musicians.

(Okay, so changing subjects here for a bit, trying to lighten the mood a little.)

This is a band out of the UK and is made up of just two guys, bass guitar and drums. No other guitar at all.

Royal Blood – Figure It Out

I like the drummer best. Unfortunately, he’s the married one.

For the road trip my brother and a friend are planning for later this summer.

He has been sick or stuck on dialysis and tied to machines for the last several years, unable to travel very far. Before that he was young and didn’t realize how valuable or exhilarating travel could be.

Now he’s free to do what he wants, to really enjoy a summer off, and he is going to get to see a different part of Canada. I’m definitely envious, but mostly I’m thrilled for him.

Wednesday: for my first introduction to a sweet little doll of a baby girl.

I went on a lovely walk with her and her mother. I had to wait until after to meet her, until she woke up, but I will never forget the first time we met.

For the strong mother she is lucky to have. Life is often sad and unfair, but I know they are lucky to have each other.

Thursday: for the stories of Robert Munsch.

My childhood was made a lot more enjoyable with this man’s stories. He celebrated his 70th Birthday and I enjoyed reading a list of 70 things I did not know about him. (Well, I did not know mostly all of them.)

http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/06/70-amazing-facts-about-robert-munsch.html

My favourite on that list was number forty-seven. Apparently his first date with his wife was a walk around Walden Pond in Boston. The literary geek in me enjoyed knowing that one.

Friday: for Sir Christopher Lee and the role I will always be glad he played.

I was sad to hear of the passing of Lee this week, but it wasn’t all that unexpected. He was ninety-three and had a good, long life.

I wrote a tribute to Lee here.

I will always think of him as Sauroman the Wizard, from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but check out this recitation of the Edgar Allan Poe poem, The Raven, that he did.

Eerie stuff, but he gives the perfect delivery.

And finally – last but certainly not least…

For the existence of Anne’s diary.

On June 12th, 1942 Anne Frank turned thirteen-years-old and received a diary for her birthday.

“I hope I will be able to confide everything in you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

Anne was only five months older than my own grandmother when she wrote these words.

“Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I have never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.”

How wrong she was when she said this.

I’m glad she did write it, but Julie did point out that it’s just as important to remember the 1.5 million children also murdered by the Nazis had stories of their own that deserved to be told
Anne’s diary must represent not only her own unique voice, but that of all the others’.

If you have never read it before, I highly suggest you do. Have a great week all.

Happy Birthday Mr. Munsch

Okay, so if I can’t trace where my love of stories started, I am more than happy and willing to give the credit to Robert Munsch.

If you haven’t heard of him:

On this Throw-back Thursday I wanted to reflect on how much of an influence his stories had on my childhood.

Robert has a brilliant mind for telling stories to children, about children, in a way in which they want to sit still and listen. His raspy voice always could keep my attention and I knew it immediately when I heard it.

He perfected the art of telling a story in front of a group of kids, something which isn’t easy to do, through practice and repetition. It isn’t easy to be able to bring a story and its characters to life in a way that manages to keep the attention of a room of little people, who will lose interest very easily if not given a reason to listen up. At the same time though, he might have just the same affect on any adult who just so happens to be listening as well, bringing multiple generations together.

He would improvise, changing the names of the characters in a story he was telling to match one of the children in the audience. In a world where so many ugly stories surface in the media about the abuse and neglect of children, it’s such a breath of fresh air to know there are the ones who care and who have done all they could to make children happy.

His voice is his sound affect. He can tell a story with the goofiest tones. It is his instrument, being able to raise or lower it where needed. This makes stories fun for kids.

I am proud to call this author a part of Canadian literary culture. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has been responsible for getting an endless number of kids interested in reading and stories since he moved to this country all those years ago.

The same library I would go with my mother and siblings to borrow his books and stories on tape might be one in Ontario, Canada just like where he might be doing a reading for a group of rapt and attentive boys and girls.

From his story of a mud puddle that threw itself onto an unsuspecting little girl (a fear of mine, being a little girl that did not like to get dirty). To a princess wearing a burnt paper bag to face a fiery dragon.

From a train that ran through the living room. To a little boy who did not want to wear his ugly brown snowsuit.

Love You Forever is probably one of the top new baby gifts. It has a sweetness and an innocence all throughout that will make you want to cry, the moment you know what it’s like to hold a precious child in your arms. This is an instance where he has brought children and adults together, to show what a great story can do.

Robert must have had inspiration for the dozens of stories he’s come up with over the years, from a life well lived. It hasn’t always been easy for him, dealing with crippling mental illness. I would like to talk with him, to ask him for the inspiration for every one of his stories. I hope he knows how much his stories are gifts that make all who reads or hears them want to keep on reading and listening, that through all the dark times he must have faced, he has been a light to so many kids like myself.

Happy Seventieth Birthday Robert Munsch. Thank you for bringing my childhood to life with your tales of everyday mishaps with a sprinkling of the magic of what it’s like to be a kid thrown in for good measure.

Facts About Robert Munsch